


A TARDIS and Her Time Lord

by Rupzydaisy



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Adventure, F/M, Friendship, Romance, a fix-it, adventures in time and space!, because she can't just go back inside a box and that's 'the end'
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-15
Updated: 2012-09-09
Packaged: 2017-11-10 00:53:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 50
Words: 11,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/460434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rupzydaisy/pseuds/Rupzydaisy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A set of 50 drabble-ish chapters with the Doctor and the TARDIS. Of a madman and his box. Of a mad bitey lady and her beautiful idiot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Advice: It might be more easier/fun to click the 'Entire Work' button and read it like that?! :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, the universe's voice was influenced a little by the idea of sentient!London in Silver Pard's Sherlock stories.

Heart

The Heart of the TARDIS called out to the Time Vortex as she sat broken in a junkyard. The TARDIS was a being of the eleventh dimension, but she could feel, or at least something in a similar way. It was a feeling of loneliness, of hurt, of weariness that spanned through Time.

_I am abandoned!_

The sound of footsteps approaching barely registered to her.

_I want to see the stars!_

The Time Vortex turned purple around her, then green and finally blue. Wisps twisted through the air, unseen to anyone except the _would be_ Last of the TARDISs. Bright blue tendrils wrapped around her slowly, from corner to corner. It showed her a heart which was bigger on the inside, a life not yet over, so much more.

And an old man slowly walked through the rows of junk, twisted metal arches and lonely corners piled with rubble.

_Oh, I see! I see!_

The TARDIS saw the Time Lord, the Doctor, the Oncoming Storm, the Destroyer of Worlds, the Lonely God, the Lost Angel, the Mighty Warrior, the Madman.

"Now, what do we have here?" he asked no one in particular.

But _she_ heard. She knew he was speaking to her, he just didn't know it yet. The front doors opened slowly, with effort, but just enough for him to see inside to the control room. He stepped inside and walked around in delight. He traced a hand over the dusty old console. She was very old, but all he said was, "You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." He thought no one could hear her.

 _Hello my Thief._ The TARDIS touched lightly against the Time Lord's mind and he never even realised. _My, you are mad. The stars shine so bright. You want to see it all. Just like me._

The Doctor flipped a few lever and when he pressed a button, a quiet rattling sound began. It slowly turned into a thrumming noise as the lights flickered on, illuminating the console room in a dim glow. The time rotor began to move up and down in the column.

"Where are we off to first then?" He asked aloud, wiping the dust off the console panel with his hand.

_Anywhere. Everywhere. Further than anyone has ever gone before._

**all of time, all the stars, all of space** the Time Vortex told her and she agreed. How could she ever refuse?


	2. Sight

Sight

He sees through his strays, with new eyes and a new future in the stars.  
But she sees through him, his old eyes and long long past, stretching back further than anyone else but her would know.

She sees the universe reflected in his eyes.  
He finds she's bigger on the inside, with long corridors that wind and lead to the most wonderful rooms.

They burn and blaze and twinkle.

He sees their delight when something new appears.  
It's a giddy sort of feeling that rushes down her corridors like a strong gale and sparks of matter flash through her wires.

He runs, ever so fast.  
She twirls through the Time Vortex, darting through the eddies and slipping past the centuries.

They are always together, no matter what, where, and how.

A skip, a slip, a turn, and then a lurch.  
Fast forwards to the past and then tumble back to the future, screaming with laughter all the while.

They dance to the same beat, see through each other, the TARDIS and the Time Lord.  
It's not always the same, but never really very different either.


	3. She

She

She could have laughed if she were in a flesh body, _"Oh my Doctor, I'm taking you where you need to be!"_ Far back into the future there was the beginnings of something black and dark and wibbley slowly coalescing out of the shadows and smog and mists. The Doctor was needed to save a town from _monstersclawsandjaws_.

 _"Come on my Thief! We need to run!"_ The TARDIS watched as the shadows collected around the town, slowly the inhabitants began to disappear and she sped through the time vortex, chasing the years as they fly by. Catching up to the time _he_ needed to be in.

They landed with a jarring thump, the Doctor sprawled across her console and a mad, wide grin on his face.

"So then," the Doctor said, straightening up and lending a hand to his stray. "Let's go and have a look outside. Where are we _today_?"


	4. He

He

He raced around the console, pulling levers, pushing buttons, twisting dials and shouting to the Ponds, "I'm trying to stabilise the flight pattern, but _she_ won't let me!"

The whole ship juddered and threw the Ponds onto the floor, Amy landing on Rory, with Rory landing on the transparent floor with a loud _"Ow!"_

"Can't you do what River did?" Amy called out, a little annoyed that she had landed on her back and still couldn't get up to her feet because the whole room was pitching from side to side to side.

"What was that?" The Doctor called back, a little breathlessly.

"Like flying quietly, and not all over the place." Amy told him in a matter-of-fact-tone which was marred by the fact that they were now all face down on the glass floor.

The Doctor shook his head. "No." His words muffled by the fact his left cheek was smushed against the glass floor.

"Why not?" Amy yelled.

"She won't let me!" The Doctor shouted.

"Who?" Rory wondered, grabbing onto the side a little tighter as he swore the ship did a loop de loop.

"River?" Amy asked.

"No, the TARDIS!" The Doctor corrected her.

"What?" Amy was openly confused. Rory was clinging onto dear life after having half-rolled off the console area, a good four feet off the bottom floor.

"Apparently I'm the fun driver?" The Doctor huffed as he clambered across to the console, the ship twisted around and he narrowly missing smacking into the chair. "I don't know? She's a woman!"

Amy protested loudly. "Oi!"

"She's a TARDIS." The Doctor explained, as though it was simple enough. "Apparently this is fun. And I don't know why you're complaining." He let out a whoop of delight. "This is better than any rollercoaster I've ever been on!"


	5. Fall

Fall

 

It was a long fall, down into a smaller being, so very human small. She was dragged away from her box, those four walls, and it was wrong. She felt squashed and cramped and couldn't breathe properly without the coolness of space against her skin, and the way time counted in evey **heartbeat** _ticktockticktock_ was so different to the turn of her engines floating in darkness.

Because she _had been_ , _is, always was_ a TARDIS, and now everything was too small –just madness without the box. _What use was that? A box without madness, was simply a boring, dead box. Her home was gone. Eaten._ Although deep down, she _knew, always known, will know,_ that her Thief would fix it.

So she shouted, loud for all to hear. "Thief! Where's my Thief?"


	6. Winter

Winter

It was so cold. She had been so used to a warm beating heart and a pulse that burned in her veins, and the TARDIS, being back inside herself felt so very, very cold - a season to last forever after feeling warmth.

She had ran and the coolness of space had touched her skin, in a different way to her wooden blue box exterior. Just different. She missed it now, even if she hadn't liked it. She loved her Thief, yet her new idea of biting had never had a chance to happen.

The lights of the TARDIS were switched on and the familiar buzz beneath the strays' feet returned. And he was there, leaning against her console, face close to the time rotor and whispered, "Can you hear me?"

_Oh, hello Doctor._

The TARDIS moved the lever near his hand upwards in reply and the time rotor lights shone brighter.

_Always._


	7. If

If

He had stood before her projected body as she said goodbye -breaking his hearts as yet another who he loved, left.

It hadn't been long enough. So short a time to run together. They had spoke, and it was brilliant. But he wanted more.

He knew he was being selfish. It went against the laws of the universe, she was a being from the eleventh dimension who couldn't hold a human form. And she knew exactly what he was thinking as she smiled at him.

Why would it have to come to an end? She was going to leave him now.

"Please, I don't want you to."

As though saying it aloud would mean she would stay.

They were all alive though. The universe had been saved once more.

_If only she could stay._


	8. Hair

Hair

She made fun of his hair, mocked his chin, laughed as he pouted, smiled when he unlocked the cage and realised who she was. _My TARDIS!_

She felt anguish when he realised the truth of the little boxes and ran with him for such a short time.

She told Pretty of the important words before she died and proceeded to tear apart House without mercy.

She said goodbye, but more importantly, _"Hello."_ The time-space around her was tinged with the bittersweetness of the word.

And in the night time quiet, when Pretty and the Orange one had gone to their room, the TARDIS watched the Doctor slowly fall asleep in the harness with his floppy fringe over his eyes, realising that it didn't look as funny as she first thought.


	9. Fixed

Fixed

While he slept she fixed herself up, brought back squash court seven and the scullery from her archives. Scrubbed the corridors clean of the red words that had taunted Orange, and switched on the lights of the dark corridors which Pretty had laid in bones and all; reversing the mess House had made. It was the reason why she catalogued her rooms, both past and future. In case of any accidents. But then again, a room could never really be deleted. She was, in fact, relative in time.

She spent time on restoring the other deleted rooms, but most care and _nostalgia_ was for the previous console room. She liked the coral desktop a lot. Just as much as she liked the new style. The metal grating for flooring, the thick coral struts surrounding the console and the green underwater themed lights were a home to her for quite some time. Such adventures that had begun in that very room.

After the last hexagonal light was folded into place, exactly as before, she saved her work and then archived it with her other beloved console rooms. Each taking the pride of place in her core memory banks.


	10. Message

Message

When she was back inside the rotor, the wires, the routing, those long corridors and breathing in light and dark, the Doctor occasionally sat in his harness and swung; listening for a quiet voice that never spoke or a coded message in the flashing lights of the console.

Sometimes he could swear he could hear her.

' _Doctor, behind you.'_

_'I'm taking you where you need to be my beautiful idiot!'_

_'Hello, hello, hello, hello.'_

He would sit down and talk to her, "Hello, old girl. Well, today was a very busy day! Who would have thought there'd be remnants of the Kilroi in that little space port..."

And the TARDIS engines would hum softly in reply.

It was almost enough; he knew that she could speak, he knew that they had had their time to talk. But he couldn't bear sitting and talking while knowing she couldn't speak like she wanted to.

So he chatted along telling her all about his day, though he knew that she already knew what had happened, while he thought on a new plan so that they could talk again.


	11. Beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You could always replace/tie in this chapter with the second part of this series; A Boy And His Box

Beginnings

It was a new beginning just waiting to start as she formed in a ball of light which solidified into how she had looked when she had a flesh body; a mad bitey lady who breathed in Time and Space and who would never have to say goodbye again.

"Hello," he said quickly, before she could interrupt or say something else.

He was beaming at her, the corners of his mouth stretching up far. He hadn't smiled like this for a very long time.

"You never can let anything go, can you?" The TARDIS smiled back, looking at her hands which were glowing softly as the new programme her Doctor had created so that she could talk again finished running and auto saved.


	12. Dark

Dark

With human-like eyes, space looked so dark as they could only see so far, but the TARDIS knew that there was so much light out there beyond her blue doors and the Doctor grinned as she pulled the monitor over to choose a bright, shining star system to visit.

"Which one?" He wondered, looking as she tapped her fingers on the side of the console, setting off little sparks that fell onto the wires and made them glow.

"That one. No, that one..." She pointed to the screen, first to a large golden system that was newly inhabited. Then to a star which had supernovaed in the last century, white hot and shining brightly. Her finger hovered between the two.

"Or that one?" He turned the dial to the left and brought up a comet which was currently travelling past a sun that set the tail on fire and blazed through the sky. She knew he was doing it on purpose, trying to confuse her.

"Look here, my beautiful idiot. I know of every star in every moment of time. I have seen them all spark and burn for an eternity and then grow cold." She was a little terse in tone and he pouted back at her. But he smiled as she began to flip switches and turned a translucent glass globe around in its slot. "So I know, that _you_ haven't yet seen the Mocyek Suns," she told him and he let out a little chuckle.


	13. Hours

Hours

The TARDIS sat in the chair with an old wireless keyboard and tapped the keys while the Doctor paced behind her. This was because she had said, "I'll be finished in a minute," _hours_ ago. What did she know? Time was relative to her!

"Oh, come on!" He finally snapped half an hour later, lying on the floor with his feet propped up on the railings. "Please! We can go anywhere you like. Anyway. Just...let's go!"

"Not yet."

"What are you even doing?" He asked for the fourteenth time.

Previously she had either only smiled back, shook her head, or said, _"Patience, Thief."_

This time however, she grinned and pointed at the monitor. He got to his feet and pulled it down to have a look. There was a new message box on the screen, ' _Change desktop?'_

"Why are you changing it? I thought you liked this?" He looked confused.

"I do. But I also liked the way I looked before. You know, it's slightly tricky to pick out certain features of desktops and then make sure that they fit in together in a new template." The TARDIS explained as she tapped out a final command and pressed the enter button on the keyboard.

The console room around them blurred over in a wave of golden light. Small white circles appeared on the far walls and a twisted coral rim faded into view around the edge of the control panel. The lights flickered for a moment before being filtered with a slight blue tinge. The bottom floor became dark glossy black and the Doctor spun around as he took in the familiar pieces.

"Oh, look at you!" He exclaimed. "That's brilliant. You're brilliant Sexy!"

"Thank you, now, shall we get going. Apparently there's no time to lose?" She bounced around the console then they were off into the time vortex to somewhere new.


	14. Shapes

Shapes

She pulled her cheeks out, the skin stretched and rolled over her cheekbones, making shapes in the monitor, and catching the Doctor as he stuck his tongue out and pulled a face from behind her.

"It's different." She stated, tugging on her left ear.

He nodded, "Yeah. But good different, or bad different?"

"I'm...not without a home this time. I can still feel time and know space." She untucked a strand of hair from behind her ear and then put it back. "It's just different."

"Not bad though?" He asked again.

"No...but this was the shape of someone. I know it's not completely mine."

"Oh?" The Doctor was silent for a moment as the realisation hit him. "Who...was she? Do you know?"

The TARDIS was silent for a moment. "Her name was Idris. She lived in Victorian London, on Earth."

He took her hand and they stood before the console in silence.

"She liked the night sky and seeing the stars. Lived in a house on the outskirts of London, just outside the Smoke. She liked looking up." The TARDIS said quietly.


	15. Strangers

Strangers

He couldn't stop her the first time, but quickly learnt to cut in and do the introductions himself instead of a; _"Hello, I'm Sexy and this is my Thief!"_

She pouted after he dragged her along, muttering a: "She's just joking."

"What? But I am. And you are my Thief!" She had protested back, loud enough for all to here.

"I know that. But they don't take too kindly to thieves here. In fact, I don't think anyone does."

"Oh."

"Come on old girl, I know there's a planet which has ice rings around it in the next galaxy over. You can skate over the rings as the suns come up and make it sparkle. Very beautiful." He linked his arm with hers and they strode back to the blue box.

The TARDIS considered it for a moment. Then as he opened the door, she burst into peals of laughter, struggling to stand. "What? What is it?" He asked, smiling along.

She straightened up and then pressed her lips together, "Oh, nothing at all, my beautiful idiot." She stepped through the doorway and waltzed up the steps before turning back to him. "Tell me Doctor, do you know how to ice skate?"

"Yeah, course I do!" He replied with a wry smile. "Well, no. But it can't be too hard?"


	16. Purple

Purple

"Red sky at night, shepherd's delight, red sky at morning, shepherd's warning!" The Doctor glanced over to her with a frown on his face, "A _purple_ sky, now that's a new one." He grinned as he took her hand and they raced down the hill.

"They've got red skies on Albert," she reminded him.

"I know."

"Silver ones on Woman Wept."

"That's because of the light refracting off the frozen seas."

"And green ones on Raxicorrofalipatorius."

"Gas-." He pulled a face of disgust.

"And Clom."

 _"More_ gas." He wrinkled his nose even more as she laughed.

"Doctor? Then these purple ones?"

"They seem like..."

The TARDIS came to a stop. "Oh, so they consist of Bration energy which is vibrating at a high speed, along with Inson particles which consist, most likely of Plo fractals. Highly combustible and toxic over a length of time. But then what is it doing in the atmosphere of a small sleepy shipping village?"

He blinked at her, while she looked at him in confusion. He looked back to bottom of the hill and then cracked a small smile. "You just took the words right out of my mouth. Come on then." He tugged her along faster as they raced to save the village.


	17. Red

Red

She remembers the time when she was _red_ and _burning._ When the Master stood inside her and transformed her into a Paradox machine. Then she looked to the small city with the human people unknowingly being controlled by monsters and thinks it should stop right away.

She could tell that there had been years of creatures hiding in the sewers, picking off people, one by one. And the people in the sunlight were still in the dark, oblivious to their presence and waiting for help. The sound had carried across the galaxy, not very loud and more like a silent call.

Of course they had heard. Of course they would help. She marched to the sewer covering that the Doctor had soniced open and climbed down the ladder determinedly.


	18. Friends

Friends

"I remember them all, all your friends. I know they seem like strays to me either way, but even now when you think about them, you still smile and I bet that they do too when they remember the day you plucked them out of their dull lives and showed them the stars."

She stepped around the console, thinking back on each of the strays.

"Why wouldn't they? They were good, and brave, and clever, and what's that word you tend to use a lot? Brilliant. No, fantastic. No...both. They were brilliantly fantastic. Each and every one. You loved them." The TARDIS continued.

He looked away from the monitor, and the slide show of old photos that were running across. Some black and white pictures, and others were vividly coloured in so brightly. "Yeah, they were." He agreed. "Including you." He tapped her nose and she grinned widely.

"Oh, my Thief, you are most definitely the best thief in all of time and space." She complimented as she flicked through the pictures, and remembered seeing all the companions, human, alien and robot, who had passed through her doors with fondness.


	19. Sunrise

Sunrise

The sun rose up above 13th Century Glimba and the Doctor looked back at the TARDIS who faffed about inside the blue police box. "Hold on, we're too late, we need to see the stars too." She called out to him and he sighed a little.

"It's nice here too though." He walked back into the TARDIS and shut the door behind him.

"I know, but it'll be nicer if we're here three hours earlier. Three hours, five minutes and forty three seconds." She explained as she tapped the monitor.

"Is that so?" The Doctor leaned over to take a look for himself as the stars whirled backwards while they flew into the past.

"See for yourself, Thief." She motioned to the doors and grinned, a spring in her step as she followed him out.

They sat on the dark black grass and watched the stars fade out of sight as the sun's rays rose up above the horizon. And for a few moments, the sky and the earth was golden.

"It is nice."

"It's beautiful."

"It reminds me of home."

"Really?" He was surprised, and his eyes wandered across the horizon once more.

She hummed in reply happily, "Closest thing to it."


	20. Smell

Smell

"Oh, what is that, it's all floaty and wavy and, and...pink?" The TARDIS asked as they stepped out onto the Rolling Hills of Babylon-Flux.

The Doctor stooped down and plucked a flower to show her its scent. "It's a flower."

"Oh!" She sniffed at it, wrinkled her nose and then promptly sneezed.

He laughed.

She frowned at him before turning her attention back to the flower. "Does it taste like it smells?" She almost put it in her mouth but he pulled her hand away.

"Not edible." He explained and she nodded back a little wistfully.

"Here, you keep it," she offered. "It's _pink."_

"I know." His eyes were mischievous as he popped it in his breast pocket so it stuck out, just as a stick of celery did quite a few regenerations ago. "I think I look rather dashing now," he commented on his new look.

She laughed at him as he twisted from side to side, "It's pink!"

"It smells of pink! Pink is-"

"-cool!"


	21. Team

Team

The best team there ever was; the mad blue box and her beautiful idiot, never a time or place where one was without the other.

It was a small little trip to the Gerogian Sands and she had gone missing. She had wandered off. He scowled as he tramped down the streets of the town, busy with market day. She had just disappeared, there one minute and off the next.

_Rule one, it's rule one! I would've thought she'd know it too much to wander off, but no. The TARDIS had just walked off, leaving him to search for her._

That was until a shriek filled the air.

"TARDIS?" He called out, running through the nearby streets. "TARDIS?"

"Over here!" She called back, staring down the street to the alien with its back to her. "Look!" She hissed as the alien advanced on the young man who cowered away.

"What's happening?" The Doctor stared around the corner.

"We need to stop him. He's not supposed to be here. That's-"

"Is that Crimson Kop?"

"Yes!" Her eyes flashed with excitement, "I know!"

She rushed forwards while the Doctor stood staring, just a little starstruck about the young, would be explorer who would traverse to the far reaches of the universe. Then he sprung into action, following the TARDIS' lead.

She grabbed a few handfuls of fruit from the nearest market stall and threw them at the alien. It turned around to face her, hissing wildly and lumbered forwards in annoyance. She continued to throw fruit, splattering it across its skin leaving wet splody purple, green and pink marks. "I'll make you multicoloured. A work of art! Is this how normal people paint?"

"No, not really." The Doctor replied as he pulled out his sonic screwdriver, aiming it at the alien who paused. Something flickered in its collective memory. Of a man and a blue box who had crash landed so long ago on a planet his people had been about to invade. People with flesh and bones that would have snapped, except they had never the chance to feast. The man and his blue box had landed and threatened and chased his people away. He was a protector holding a flashing gleaming sword that whirred louder than storm winds.

"Yes...It's us." The TARDIS whispered, and in the alien's mind, the metallic grinding sound echoed loudly.

He howled and turned, galloping away on all fours to escape.

"T-thanks!" The boy said, straighening up slowly and looking utterly bewildered.

"Oh, it was nothing!" The Doctor grinned, pocketing his sonic screwdriver. He peered at the young Crimson Kop and then walked over, putting an arm around his shoulder. "You look a little pale. I think I saw a stall selling ice cream, come on, my treat. Fingers crossed they've got a fish custard flavour!"

The TARDIS smiled back before replying, "I don't think anywhere has, Doctor."


	22. Water

Water

He had asked her about River Song, and the TARDIS replied without giving an answer; "River is River. She flows and twists like water. Melody Pond, Melody Song, River Pond. She's a Child of the TARDIS and it's all spoilers, for me to know and for you, to perhaps, find out."

"Just a little one?" he asked wistfully.

"No," she replied matter-of-factly.

He pouted like a child and looked nothing like the 1000 year old Time Lord he was. "But-"

She knew what he was going to say;

_How well does she know me? How long will she know me for? Can I ever save her from the Library? Where will we go? Why does she have those handcuffs? How far will we run?_

"-But nothing, Doctor. You'll find out in time. In your own time. There will be no spoilers from me." The TARDIS decided with a smirk as she saw exactly what her Doctor's future held. _What a story it would be!_


	23. Death

Death

One by one by one.  
With a keen eye and a clever mind as he walked into the TARDIS, looking old, but very new.  
He had a sharp tongue but a smile for friends. (Off to see the universe.)  
And a ridiculous style of dressing himself.  
One by one by one.  
He was always a madman with a glint in his eye. (He knew she was there, somewhere.)  
And a warm heart, full of courage to stand up for others.  
Sometimes brash, overbearing but brave. (Oh, he had even fixed her chameleon circuit once, except it hadn't stayed that way for very long. She loved to be blue.)  
One by one by one.  
So light. So dark. Taking in the strays. (She was the safe haven. The box which led to a faraway place. Larger than life.)  
Eccentric as ever yet fitting into Time's slots, and it's demands for a saviour and sacrifice.  
Twisting the lines of time and making things right. (She could see where he needed to be.)  
One...  
Stepping forwards and leaving loneliness behind. (But he was never really alone. He had her, always.)  
By one.  
Her madman. (They spoke. They ran.)  
With every death began a new life. And it was always her Doctor.


	24. Breakfast

Breakfast

They settled down for breakfast in a space diner called The Costello and she didn't even spare a glance at the menu, "Fish fingers and custard!" the TARDIS ordered happily.

"Excuse me?" The waiter asked, struggling to hide his confusion.

"Fish...custard!" The TARDIS replied, this time more slowly so that he could understand.

The waiter turned to the Doctor, who nodded back expectantly. "I...I'll see what we have." The man said.

"I'll have the same!" The Doctor chimed in. "It's fairly simple. Fish fingers and a bowl full of custard."

"Right." The waiter nodded slowly. He backed away from the table and wondered how to phrase the odd request to the head chef.

"Thank you."

They turned their attention back to the glass wall which overlooked a black hole on the other side of the galaxy. The glass itself was a magnifier and they could see a star being unravelled slowly, a thread of bright burning gas looping off into the black hole's darkness.

The waiter stood for a moment and then turned around, walking back to the kitchens. "There's a couple on table four, they want fish custard. I don't... know?"

The chef looked back and thought for a moment. "They're paying customers, so if they want fish custard, they'll have fish custard."

"The man said that _it's fairly simple. Fish fingers and a bowl full of custard._ " The waiter added helpfully.

"Continue." The chef waved him away. "They'll have their order soon."

Half an hour later, three quarters of the restaurant had ordered the same, strange plate of fish custard. And business had never been better. Of course, it had helped that the nearest planet was submerged under the sea level and so the people had a diet of seafood and a sweet tooth.


	25. Thunder

Thunder

She was the thunder to his lightening, when the TARDIS flew, the Oncoming Storm rode on the winds she whipped up.

And they knew it.

The blue box had become a symbol; so widely recognised, perhaps even famous.

The Doctor had to fall out of the sky somehow after all.

And she was loved and treasured. Hated and loathed. Just like him.

There were those who associated the TARDIS with death. The Goblin who crashed out of the heavens in the blue box, it stirred up the air and left behind trails of wreckage.

But not all considered the blue box as a symbol of _badwrongevilrun._

For a small family who had left the charred remains of Pompeii alive, against all the odds, the TARDIS sat in the house altar, carved into stone with their house gods. In the background but nevertheless there. It had arrived in their time of need, the blue doors opened and out poured cool, bright, white light and showed the man who had come to save them.


	26. Rain

Rain

The TARDIS stood next to the Doctor under the small shelter, rain dripping from their clothes, hair plastered down, both with unamused on their faces. _So this is London!_ the Doctor had told her as she looked around once more before replying; "I think I know how to make the water stop." She ran to the blue police box with the Doctor chasing after her.

"No...what are you doing old girl?" He shouted as the rain poured down.

"Making it stop, now, which one was the atmospheric compressor?" Her hands hovered over the console.

The Doctor tipped his head in thought."The blue one? Or maybe the green one?" He paused, a little confused.

"Are you sure?"

"Nope. What about that swiggly one?"

"No, that's for snow," she corrected.

"Oh. Then go for the blue," he offered.

The (unexpected) Great Storm of 1987 soon followed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who don't know, The Great Storm was a storm which hit the UK and France in 1987 with hurricane force winds, and the weatherman on the TV had told viewers that it wouldn't be so bad. I'm sort of shifting this into an AU though where it's completely unexpected!


	27. Choices

Choices

She had spent the better part of the morning in the wardrobe. In _his_ own hat collection. She had laughed at the fezzes, rummaged through the Stetsons and thrown the porkpie hat on the 'never to be worn' pile, which thankfully wasn't very large.

He sat on top of the pile and occasionally plucked a hat from it, arguing its good points; that it was _cool_ , it was from a limited hat collection, and a "Hey, that is the official headdress on Golk!"

Eventually he asked what she was doing. She told him that she "Simply couldn't decide!" as she pulled on one hat after another before balancing four on her head all at once.

"Now Doctor, this Planet of the Hats the Loud-Strong-Soft one spoke of..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *the Loud-Strong-Soft one was Donna, before she was the DoctorDonna!


	28. Birthday

Birthday

"I don't have one, Time is relative to me, it could have been my birthday yesterday, or it could be tomorrow, or even today...or everyday for this whole month could be my birthday," she mused thoughtfully before deciding that the last option sounded the best.

"I like birthdays," the Doctor chirped happily.

"You?" The TARDIS laughed, "You don't even remember how many you've had!"

"I'm not that old."

"You were in the history books of your planet long before you met me, Doctor. I know."

"Well _you_ would, wouldn't you?" He mocked back, then paused. "You haven't had a proper birthday, have you?"

"No." The TARDIS stared off into the distance. "What are balloons?"

"Balloons are fun. Well, not fun when they pop! But they're fun. Cake at a birthday party is the best bit though." The Doctor mused before he began to set new coordinates. "I think we need to get some cake, old girl. How many candles do you think you'll need."

"More than you, my Thief." She chuckled back. "Many more."


	29. Broken

Broken

The chameleon circuit was broken, had been broken since a slightly dodgy landing in 1973, and would always stay broken because he didn't have the heart to fix it and she would hide it if he ever did decide to again.

He had attempted, once, a very long time ago. But as he probed the circuit near the top of the ceiling, he paused and thought. The Doctor then realised that he didn't really want to fix it.

The TARDIS hummed happily with satisfaction.

The Doctor pocketed his sonic screwdriver and then hopped down the stairs, humming to an old tune. _The chameleon circuit isn't broken, it doesn't really need to be fixed. I quite like her blue now._ "What about you old girl, do you like the blue?"

Besides...the perception filter would make sure she wouldn't be noticed by curious eyes.


	30. Who?

Who?

Doctor, Doctor Who?

But there was an equally interesting question that filtered down through Time and travelled on whispers through Space; who was the TARDIS before she was the TARDIS?

Because she hadn't always been blue. She hadn't been the last of her kind either, that was something more recent.

The TARDIS, the very last Time And Relative Dimension In Space hadn't been alone either. She had had sisters, before, such a long time ago. They ended up in the care of the Time Lords and they shared their knowledge and thirst for travel with the young species. But the Doctor could have explained that because he had known her the longest.

The TARDIS was bigger on the inside and had a history that went far further beyond his own or anyone else's, so naturally, some things would never come to light, others would stay a secret and she would simply refer to herself as Sexy nowadays. Most things would simply have to stay unknown.


	31. Passing

 

Passing

They were just passing through when she paused mid-step as a young man bowled into the Doctor, knocking him over.

The TARDIS looked down the pair and then at the tall black spire on the horizon muttering, "Now, that's not good, that's not very good at all," she told them before marching off towards it.

"Apparently not good!" The Doctor blinked amusedly as he pulled himself and the young man to his feet and then brushing down his tweed jacket.

"Who are you?" The man asked curiously, then he turned to watch the TARDIS stomping off to the Protectorate's castle and his eyes widened in alarm.

"I'm the Doctor-"

"Where's she going? Is she mad?"

"I think...she's going to knock on the door...it looks like it, yeah. What's your name?"

"I'm Tey, but that's not important. She needs to get away!" He pointed to the cannons situated on the wall running around the black spire.

"Oh, I see." The Doctor watched the TARDIS continued to stride forwards, getting closer to the castle.

"I don't think she does!" Tey replied.

"Perhaps not, but she definitely sees something." The Doctor grinned before setting off into a run after her.

Tey sighing heavily chased after the two obviously new and mad visitors before they got themselves killed.


	32. Outside

Outside

The outside of the TARDIS was old and worn, with new paint and a bright light, and was always unnoticed except by a special few. Sometimes, in the middle of crowds on a planet, somewhere far away from the last stop off, she would stand.

And occasionally someone's eyes, perhaps old, perhaps young, might slide over, and consider the blue box standing where nothing had stood the day before. Because it was big and blue.

And there was something else about it.

Not _off,_ but something they'd never seen before.

A little girl would tug at her mother's dress, "Mum, look! A pretty box!"

"I wonder when that got there?" A student would wonder, late for lessons.

"That's...strange." An old couple would nod to each other as they walked down a high street on Onyx Five.

Once, a young boy, perhaps six or seven, with a mass of curly black hair, paused while catching up with his parents as they walked with his younger brother. He jumped as a man spoke from behind him, coming forwards and pulling a key from his pocket, "She's called the TARDIS."

"It's a blue box." The boy commented, "A nice blue."

"I think so too." The Doctor patted the side panel. "The outside's pretty, the inside, now that's something to see."

And as the man walked into the TARDIS, the little boy caught a glimpse of something he would swear to be true for the rest of his life. _Because the inside was bigger than the outside._


	33. Room

He wasn't sure if she had a room. Most of the time they were outside of the little blue box. And the times they were in, they would be in the console room, tinkering with wires or flying the ship to somewhere new. He often wandered down the corridors in his spare time, but had never once come across a room which was hers.

"Sexy, where are you?" He called loudly, and she would always hear wherever she was.

"In the library."

"Oh, what book are you reading?"

"I'm not reading, I'm swimming!"

"That's nice then, dear." The Doctor nodded his head and then ran down the steps, walking quickly down the corridors. He was determined to explore every inch of the long corridors, look in all the rooms to find out which one was hers.

He had wandered for hours. Perhaps even days.

And had finally returned to the console room.

Because he had realised every room was her room.


	34. Mess

It wasn't always that they left a mess.

But this particular trip left behind a small army of broken robots and a pond full of Clieop slime.

It hadn't been a _particular_ person's fault. Though, if they were going to start pointing fingers, it really would have helped if the homicidal Clieop hadn't tried to eat them whole. However, they were fast at running and it laboured along slowly, it's body dragging against the ground and leaving a glistening trail. Like an overgrown slug.

A carnivorous overgrown slug with a poisonous bite and razor sharp teeth.

Or having the robots trying to hunt the beast down on behalf of the local population who had some wires loose.

But the laser sights could be knocked off target with a quick buzz of the sonic.

No, it had been the quick mire that had been their downfall.

And of course, the pile up had led to a struggle but somehow they had slipped away unscathed, dripping with mire sludge and laughing all the while.

Typical, just typical.

There was always running to do.


	35. Ghosts

Sometimes she sees them, she is relative in time and space after all, as she strolls aimlessly inside the long corridors, and sees a flash of red hair darting around a corner, a light laugh bubbling through the air. She's reminded that she was never and will never be alone.

Other times she sees him too, because he wasn't always with floppy hair and a bowtie. The tapping of a cane on the wooden floors. Sometimes she sees cold eyes and the smell of smoke wrapped around him as he sits hunched in a long lost corridor.

And once, a him who she hadn't quite met yet, a cheeky wave and warm smile with a whispered, "Hello, old girl."

She stared at him, tipped her head to the side and watched as he walked away, down the corridor to the swimming pool or library. "Doctor."


	36. Picture

River Song flipped open a page in her little blue diary and the TARDIS laughed as she looked at all the pictures. They were leaning over the railings while the Doctor tinkered with the console.

The golden haired woman smiled as the TARDIS pointed to an old drawing taken from a tomb at the beginnings of the universe. "I know there's no point hiding it from you, mother," she said in a hushed tone.

The TARDIS smiled back because River had all her faces too, just like the Doctor's. Of the old and worn and new and always, always a bright blue.

The Doctor looked over as he wiped his oily hands on a cloth, "What's so funny?"

"I am." The TARDIS declared. She looked between the two, River stifling a snigger at the Doctor's face, who simply looked confused. "Because I should have left three minutes ago. Excuse me." The TARDIS ran around the console, and then darted down the steps and into the corridor to the scullery, or maybe the garden.


	37. Years

"I think, it would be nice to know you for a thousand years." The Doctor had once said.

They sat on the steps of the TARDIS with the front doors wide open, just drifting in space and watching the stars float by. The blue box drowning in the black of space.

The TARDIS had smiled back, "But I _have_ known you for a thousand years."

"Yes, that's true."

She smiled back. "I think I would like to know you for a thousand more. Talking and running. Always."

"Imagine that, eh, old girl." He leaned back on his arms, feet tapping against the metal step below.

"I don't have to."

He grinned, teeth flashing white. "It'd definitely be something."

The TARDIS hummed softly in reply. "I don't have to...because I can see it, Doctor."

"What's it like?"

"Wonderful." She decided, nodding her head.

"I'm glad." He replied, his smile even wider than before.


	38. Blue

Her dress was blue. Just like the fresh paint on the outside of her box.

The edges were frayed, exactly the same as the chipped corners and dust on the handrails of staircases long abandoned for short cuts.

The material was soft, similar to how the contours of the police box fitted her perfectly. As if she never wanted another shape to take.

Then again, they were both so very blue. Trailing history in the twirls, dripping from the baby blue shade of her dress about the woman who had worn it before, the dirt dragged into the hem from the ground and the delicate bows tied neatly on her back. The box, square and dependable and carving a way through time with its straight edges.

She remained blue. Always.


	39. Spade

They always left their mark.

Be it in legend.

Blood splattered on the ground.

Whispered names from shadows to light.

Sprawled across the stars in looped trails.

And this time, it had been a little different.

The sandcastle on the beach of Savtion-C was large. Or rather, large was an understatement. In fact, it was twice the height of the locals. It stood over six foot, with compacted deep blue sand in the shape of a box. The sand on the beach around it had been left in a shallow dip, most of it used to create the strange box.

It had engraved panels and even a top which looked as though a lantern sat on top. ' _Police Box'_ was carved into the setting sand on the topmost panel, and the locals pointed and grinned and laughed at the sight.

A pair of deep blue wooden deckchairs lay abandoned just a little further up the beach, away from in the incoming fiery orange coloured tide as the sun set. A pair of sunglasses, large and round lay on one of the seats.

A metal spade leaned against the back of the other chair.

_"Well, a little plastic trowel isn't going to shift enough sand now, is it Sexy? Not if we're going to do this properly!"_


	40. Christmas

"It's always Christmas somewhere," the Doctor began as he darted around the console madly. "Yeah, a nice old Christmas...oh you're gonna love it, snow and roasted chestnuts, presents. The perfect Christmas...I know!" He paused and grinned daftly at her. "You, me and Jeff on Glorina Prime in the 63rd Century –they've got sugar snowflakes to die for!"

"Sugar snowflakes?" She peered up at him. "I thought they were made of hydrogen and oxygen?"

"Normally they do, but these ones are sweets!" He spun around and reached for a long piece of string, tugged on it twice and then rushed to the left.

"Sweets?" She paused for a moment, thinking. "Oh, they _are_ nice!" She said with realisation.

"Hey!" The Doctor protested, stopping to frown at her. "That's cheating!" He crossed his arms in a huff

The TARDIS shook her head in reply. "No, it's not; I don't know what they actually taste like. I just know that they are nice."

"Hmmmph." He sounded unimpressed.

"They sparkle from the crystals." The TARDIS added dreamily.

"Yes." The Doctor nodded his head, slowly coming out of his little sulk. "I know. And I'm going to surprise you too. Not sure what, just yet anyway. But a surprise."

She nodded back, "A surprise? You mean like a Christmas present?"

"Something of the sort." The Doctor replied after thinking for a moment. Then he leaned forwards and tapped her nose with his finger. "Merry Christmas, old girl."


	41. Life

The life of a TARDIS was always going to be a long one, they would be ready to travel along the golden time paths and traverse through the infinite beauties of space. Spinning violently in a black waltz. Falling and flying all the while.

This TARDIS was the last of her kind. She was the only sister remaining out of an entire galaxy made entirely of coral in a deep blue sea of space in another reality. However, she never once thought her thief wanted to see the same amount of it all, perhaps even more.

_Imagine me now._

_Still so much to see._


	42. Fanatical

"Oh...you," The Doctor began, his eyes wide and shining. "You are honestly, the best-"

Suddenly he was barged out of the way by a woman in a blue dress and a wide smile. "I never thought I'd meet someone as famous as you, ever. Because, you see, I'm a blue box. Technically I am relative throughout time and space so it's not a matter of knowing who you are or what you've done, but more of a chance to meet you!" She grasped hold of the startled woman's hand and shook it enthusiastically.

The brown haired woman looked stunned for a moment, staring at the strange pair before smiling tentatively. The Doctor took that as a cue to return to the conversation. "As I was saying, the best writer for an entire generation. And _expliarmus_ , that has come in very handy, I must admit. So thank you."

"I liked the one with the hippogriff." The TARDIS said thoughtfully.

"What?" The woman asked, flicking her head from one to the other.

"But then I also liked how they got to fly from Scotland to London! It's a very pretty journey; I can't normally make it because he flies with the brakes on. It plays havoc on the gears." The TARDIS continued.

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Perhaps, maybe not...I think we'll be leaving now. Because it's all a bit wibbley, and things haven't quite been written yet."

"Oh, and the one with the-" The TARDIS started up again, her eyes shining.

The Doctor tugged her back and gave a wry smile, "It was lovely to meet you, J. K. Rowling." They both disappeared around the bookshelves and the author shook her head and smiled before greeting the next person in line to sign their book.


	43. Knowledge

Now he knows what it's like for his companions.

She's babbling on and on about relay feeds, cutting sentences short and switching to another thought which is completely unrelated.

_How on earth did they manage?_

"- and you're not even listening. Thief! I need you to pass me that wire, yes that one. And then reach over to the switch. No! That will make things explode."

"Really?" His hand quickly retreats away from the switch and he glares at it for a moment before looking over to her. "Do you...need my help?"

"Yes. I need you to reverse the relay feeds to the main transistor. And then begin programming the Blass meter to take to the new lines."

"What?" He stared at her.

She spun around, the wires stretching with the movement," The relay feeds, those, big blue thingys. You need to-"

"That'll...flip the entire circuit. And short the..." He trailed off and she was smiling at him.

"Transmitter." She finished for him.

He paused and plucked out his sonic screwdriver from his pocket, pointing it at her and it buzzed, flashing green. "You knew...that I know."

"Well, you were going to say it all, but in a longer, more complicated way."

"And we're running out of time aren't we?"

"Yes, we are. One minute and thirty three seconds."

"Best get..." He reached for the lever which would flip the relay feeds.

"...A move on." She finished as she began to plug in the wires.


	44. Delight

_Crimson. Eleven. Delight. Petrichor_

Petrichor she could smell. It wafted in through her vents when she touched down on Earth. The scent of dust after rain.

Eleven. She knew how to count. Eleven solar systems in the Tritor Galaxy. Eleven stars shining in the Crown of Egele in the Ni Nebula. Eleven regenerations her Doctor had passed through, and well over eleven hundred years under his belt.

Crimson coloured blood, poor humans. She had been red once too with the crimson fire of a paradox machine's heart in the place of her time rotor.

Delight. She was finding this one a little more interesting. She folded it back through time, realising it was so important. A password, to keep it safe. And to watch how it was to be unlocked.

_A laugh. A smile. Delight._


	45. Horror

"What is it? Hello? What is that thing? And why are we hiding?"

"A Dalek." She replied after a moment's silence. He, on the other hand was sinking into a depression. No, falling, crashing, drowning. Because once more, a Dalek had survived. Once more, it had begun what it's race had been born and created to do.

"What is it doing?"

" _Exterminating_." He had found his words now, and he spat them out. Hate of everything that had ever happened, because of the Daleks. Hate in return of hate.

Because if one Time Lord had survived, over and over again, then why not a Dalek too? She could see, she was able to see through the time vortex, and saw that the two races were much too interlinked to ever go without contact for too long. It would always be the same battle, throughout time and reaching all corners of space, whether it was fought there or saved.

It wasn't just him, though. Because she was the last of the TARDISs. And she felt the same fear and horror every time she saw one.

"Then why are we hiding?" They both turned and stared at the human who was hiding with them. "What? I mean, it's not doing anything cool. It's killing people, my friends are out there! And...well, we've got to stop the gigantic pepper-pot thing!"

"Dalek." The Doctor corrected, flipping his fringe backwards so that it was out of his eyes. He sighed once and then turned to the TARDIS as he pulled out his sonic screwdriver. "Ready, Sexy?"

"I will be." The TARDIS replied, chancing a smile as they stepped out from behind their cover.


	46. Cutting

_Snip_

_Snip_

_Snip_

_Snip_

"What are you doing?"

"Removing the old wires."

"But...don't you need them?" he asked, a little alarmed.

The TARDIS pulled a long silver wire down from a bundle and snipped it, tugging the remains down to join a multicoloured pile of wires on the floor. "I fiddled with the desktop. Just a bit. Mostly wireless now, but I'm keeping some. I do like them, however it _does_ need a trim."

"I suppose...are you sure you want to get rid of all of those?" He stared at the pair of garden shears she had in her hands. "Aren't some important?"

She laughed back at him. "I suppose, but this has been in dire need of rewiring since..." she paused and stared off into the space just above his right shoulder. "The past three hundred years!"

"I've been busy!" He protested, walking forwards to take a closer look at her work. "There's been a lot of running...and saving planets and...stuff."

"Fair point. Come to think of it...perhaps you need a trim too." She turned around and brandished the garden shears at him in a snipping motion.

"What?" His face blanched and the TARDIS struggled to keep a straight face.

"Your hair, it's a bit long, isn't it?"

"No! No, it's not. It's perfectly fine!" He backed away. "You know what, maybe I'll go for a swim." She heard his boots clack down the hallway and burst into laughter.


	47. Drought

"I'm. Thirsty..." The TARDIS said, her throat dry. She dug around the console and then huffed in annoyance.

"Why did you eat all the Saskuli flowers? They're supposed to be a delicacy in five galaxies." The Doctor frowned. "You ate all mine."

"You offered them to me!" She argued back.

"Where are we going now?"

"Somewhere where there's a delicacy regarded in six galaxies. It _can_ be a drunk." He flipped a lever and then slid across the floor as the time and space ship did a loop-de-loop in the middle of the of the time vortex.

"Where?" The TARDIS reached for the monitor but the Doctor lurched over and clung onto it, spinning it around the time rotor while snagging a row of switches with his other hand.

"You'll see!" He leaned over and reached for a lever.

"Why are you opening the doors?"

"You'll have to jump!" He laughed with glee as he pulled the lever down and the doors opened. He lifted his hands to tweak his bowtie. As he let go off the console, he slid across the floor again, hands outstretched to catch the railing when his appearance was satisfactory.

"We've landed?"

"Nah, not yet. In a guided fall. I've set up a timer to materialise to set coordinates not too far off. Get ready to jump now!"

"Jump?"

"Yeah, I thought you said you were thirsty."

"I am. But-"

"Jump!" He shouted as he let go off the railings and slid down. He grinned as he flashed past her, out of the doors and disappeared from sight.

"Doctor?" The TARDIS laughed and then let go of the side of the console. She fell down, through the open doors and then landed in the sticky yellow liquid, sinking in slowly. "Delicacy? Really?"

"Custard planet! Custard is cool!" The Doctor attempted to do backstroke, but ended up flailing for a moment and so decided to pause. "You can drink custard, you know." And then his face was coated in a layer of yellow custard as the TARDIS scooped it over him.

She licked her fingers. "Yum. Five galaxies...I can see why. Although, there's none where it's fish fingers and custard, is there?"


	48. Justice

"The Shadow Architect will see you now, Doctor." The TARDIS stared at the assistant pointedly. "And your companion."

The Doctor stared pointedly.

The assistant looked down at his information pad, and then back at the two _legends_ before he looked down again, "Doctor and TARDIS?" he corrected himself with a questioning tone. He showed them to the door and then with wobbly legs sat down in his desk, because he had just been stared at by the Last Time Lord.

"Doctor." The Shadow Architect stood at the centre of the room by the holographic projector with distaste hanging of the single word.

"Shadow Architect." He acknowledged her back with a curt nod.

"I should have you locked up. You agreed to lead us into war, and then you ran!" Her red eyes were filled with anger.

The Doctor shook his head and replied calmly. "I never said I was going to lead you into war. Who do you think I am?"

"You are the Doctor."

He shook his head. "Yes. But I'm not going out of my way to start wars."

"This was a battle we would have won." Her hand outstretched forwards, and she pointed accusingly.

"No."

"How can you know that?"

The Doctor stuck his hands out. "I'm a Time Lord. I know."

"I don't believe you! I can't. There are no Time Lords. The species is a myth." The Shadow Architect replied wearily.

The TARDIS watched them, her head flicking back and forth, and then she laughed. "Oh, look at you." She pointed at the Shadow Architect who turned around to stare with shock.

"You claim you are the TARDIS."

"I am the TARDIS. That is correct." The TARDIS dipped her head slightly, and then beamed widely.

The Shadow Architect scoffed, and then moved around to the panel which controlled the holographic projector. Her white fingers ran over the surface and she pulled up an image of a plaque. "The Shadow Proclamation authorised the TARDIS to be used thousands of centuries ago. The TARDIS is a temporal spatial ship. It is a blue wooden box."

"And I'm the TARDIS." The TARDIS smiled back politely.

"You should listen to her." The Doctor murmured under his breath as he passed the Shadow Architect who was staring at the TARDIS in her bright blue dress and hair which was windswept and piled on top of her head. "She always wins the arguments."

"How can you be the TARDIS?" The Shadow Architect crossed her arms and motioned for the servant to bring her drink over.

The TARDIS frowned for a moment, "You couldn't authorise me to be used. I chose to be. I stole a Time Lord and ran away to see the universe. You have no authorisation to give." The Doctor smiled on proudly.

The Shadow Architect sipped her drink, replaced it on the table and then huffed. "Doctor, if you do not state your intent for this impromptu visit, I will have you and your...deluded companion escorted from the premises."

"I think you need to believe us. We are who we say we are. Because if you don't, then how could you ever believe the reason we're here."

"Doctor." This time the Shadow Architect's voice was layered with a warning. A tone he was well familiar with. An _I'll-count-to-ten_ kind of tone.

"Oh, she's as silly as a human. But she's not even a human." The TARDIS said sadly, crossed the gap between herself and the red eyed woman and clasped her hand on the woman's forearm.

The Shadow Architect gasped. Her servant wondered what to do. The Doctor leaned forwards to watch.

And the Shadow Architect saw. The truth she had ignored.

"The TARDIS and her Time Lord. The boy and his box. Time and space and running..." She breathed out and blinked. "Why are you here?"

The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out his sonic screwdriver. "We've brought you something. The Shadow Proclamation is the highest court in the entire universe. We've brought you a criminal. The worst criminal." He flipped the sonic screwdriver open and it buzzed, flashing green.

A Dalek materialised on top of the projection platform and the Shadow Architect jerked back in alarm, her mouth open and ready to shout.

But the Doctor stepped forwards and waved his arms, "No, don't worry. It's harmless. We set up a self replicating...oh, don't worry, but basically it won't shoot. It's unarmed."

"Why did you bring it here?"

TARDIS replied this time. "For you to put it on trial. Consequences for its actions. This is the Last Dalek."

"It's the only Dalek in the universe. But it was there, in the Time War, and it's guilty of the crimes of the Daleks." The Doctor tacked on.

The Shadow Architect looked over to the Dalek whose lights were flashing. "Do you, the Last Dalek, have anything to say in your defence?"

The Dalek's light flashed manically.

"Oh, sorry...mute." The Doctor fumbled with the sonic and pointed it at the Dalek whose plunger moved to aim, but fired nothing.

"EXTERMINATE!"

"Yes, you know, that's pretty much all they say." The Doctor said pocketing the sonic once more. "Daleks." He shrugged as an explanation.

"The Last Dalek." The Shadow Architect whispered in shock. "It was said they destroyed entire worlds with their hatred." She looked back to the Doctor. "And Dalek's were the ones behind the twenty seven planets disappearing?"

"Oh, I've sent you an email of a list of charges."

"Very well. This Dalek will be charged as a representative of its race, under Act Beta Three as written by the Shadow Proclamation. Anything you have to say may be used as evidence."

"EXTERMINATE!"

"Duly noted."

"Ah, congratulations!" The TARDIS exclaimed suddenly.

"Hmmm?" The Doctor hummed curiously.

"Oh, timing." She replied a little sheepish. "You'll see." They both walked towards the door and the TARDIS placed a hand over the sensor pad to open it. "Goodbye. We won't be seeing you again for a long time."

"Won't you stay for the trial?"

"No, we've done what we came to do." The TARDIS replied.

"Goodbye." The Doctor waved politely.

"Wait!" The Shadow Architect called. "You're the Doctor. You're the Last Time Lord. The legends, the stories about you are all true. Destroyer of Worlds, Lonely God, Wanderer, Mighty Warrior. Time Lord. The TARDIS showed me what you've done. I should have you tried to, the crimes you have been guilty of."

"I know."

They both regarded each other for a moment.

"The Doctor is the enemy of the Dalek's. YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!"

"You're not like it. You...try." The Shadow Architect considered them for a moment. "Off you go Doctor. I believe this Dalek will be convicted as deserved. The people of the twenty seven planets, and the universe will get the justice they deserve."

"And so will we." The TARDIS added with a small smile, and then she and the Doctor left in the blue box they arrived in.


	49. Sleep

"I know where we can go..." the Doctor paused to yawn, and it stretched his mouth wide. "The, er...the Twisting Square of Com."

"You're tired."

"I'm not tired. I'm just..." He paused to yawn again. "There's just been a lot of running." He told her defensively.

"You're going to fall asleep in three minutes." The TARDIS told him helpfully.

"No, I'm not." He argued back, struggling to keep his eyes open.

"Yes, you are. It has been an awful lot of running lately. We ran over the Cliffs of Perigon, and from the Lost Natives of Juklip. Then there was the crashing explorer-ship on Hungilo's blue moon. Maybe we can go somewhere where we don't have to run. What about a low gravity planet, like..."

"Sippy?"

"Yes. That sounds good."

"Rain."

"It does rain a lot there. But I'm sure I can pick a day when it doesn't."

"Mmmm."

"Of course, that doesn't mean that's the only option. I suppose the tree tops cities in the city of New New New New York in the thirty second century would be nice..." She trailed off and then laughed at the Doctor's face as he slept. "Three minutes." She shook her head and then stood, flipping the handbrake down to direct their flight in the time vortex to a path which would be calm.

"You'll wake up in six hours and twenty four minutes." She smiled down at him and spoke quietly. "And then you'll fall over your feet because you've got pins and needles. Oh, my beautiful idiot!" She rested her hand on his shoulder for a moment. "Wake me up too."

The TARDIS reached over and pushed a small blue button on the side of the control panel. She melted away in bright light, which drifted to the time rotor and sunk into the structure of the console, leaving the console room lights to dim behind her.


	50. Imagination

The Doctor grinned as he helped up the young girl as the TARDIS extended a hand out to the young boy. "Ah, yes." He had the grace to look sheepish as he looked at the ruin of the orphanage further down the road. "I guess we made it just in time. Good thing that you everyone was out on a day trip to the sea side. Sandcastles and ice cream." He flapped his hands in the air for a moment.

"Doctor." The TARDIS called, bringing him back to the point.

"What? Oh, right, you'll be fine now. Sent those Siwen's packing. And...the building was technically structurally unsound from the start..."

"What my Thief means to say is that we are sorry we broke your home. But you can redecorate now." The TARDIS added in helpfully.

"We'll be off now though. Again, I'm sorry." The Doctor said, shaking the two human's hands apologetically. Then the time travelling pair began to walk away.

"It never really was a home." The boy shrugged his shoulders and put an arm around the girl who smiled back sadly. "Waiting to leave most of our time anyway."

The Doctor took a step backwards, and then turned around. "Where would you go?"

The girl grinned, "Oh, we didn't really know, we just talked about it a lot, didn't we?"

"Everywhere really." The boy tacked on.

"Where's everywhere _exactly?_ "

"We've saved enough for two tickets on a cargo steamship which can take as far as the edge of the galaxy. We can hitchhike wherever we want to go." The girl answered, beaming at the boy.

"Oh, just look at them. Humans!" The Doctor exclaimed. "All that imagination in their heads." He reached forwards and scrubbed the boy's brown hair, messing it up. "And you think you can get to the edge of the galaxy?"

"We can!" The boy replied, brown eyes determined.

"That's only the start." The girl replied, pushing a strand of her silver hair behind her ear. "We can go even further than that; it'll just take a bit of time. But that doesn't matter, because we're going to see so much more than anyone else on this planet!"

"Yes, you will!" The TARDIS agreed.

"Are you bringing home strays this time?" The Doctor asked mischievously.

"All those times you decided. My turn now, Thief." The TARDIS hummed back.

"Ah, you're stealing them away." He whispered back.

"I already have, and I will. I am." The TARDIS smiled widely.

"So, the edge of the galaxy, the edge of the universe. But I mean, come on, where's your imagination?" The Doctor babbled on excitedly.

"Why, where should we go?"

"Ever wanted to travel in time? We could stand here, three thousand years ago. There was blue grass here, right under your feet, and when the sun came up, it turned everything purple." The TARDIS offered. "Can you imagine it? Or would you like to see?"


End file.
